After three years of advocating for the advancement of Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) in the United States of America, MTBO America (www.mtbo.us) has given their popular blog a face lift with their new design developed by Trenchbucket (www.trenchbucket.com). The redesign of MTBO America features increased readability, social media icons, simplified categories, and better search functionality.

The United States Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) team consisting of Sue Grandjean, Rebecca Jensen, and Abra McNair are no longer three American women who happen to race in the World MTBO Championship: they are now the first Elite American MTBO Athletes... EVER!

The basic concepts behind Mountain Bike Orienteering (MTBO) course design, for the most part, is focused on providing multiple route choices, hosting events at venues with challenging and diverse terrain, and building in navigational complexity. However, as you or your club begins to consider offering MTBO races, there are certain "gotchas" that should be considered when designing a course that are very different from the ones found in Foot Orienteering, and go beyond just the simple added challenge of having mountain bikes at your an event!

The question is simple: do we adapt, innovate, and start producing events that are spectator-friendly for the sake of growing orienteering? Or do we maintain the fundamental traditions, competitive formats, and culture of orienteering in order to preserve the legacy of a sport that has stayed relatively unchanged for almost a hundred years?